HWTC Tracing News

SIBLINGS FIND EACH OTHER THROUGH RED CROSS TRACING
“I just found out that my mother had a son during war.” That’s how Hanna Katz began her tracing request at the Central New Jersey Chapter of the American Red Cross, near her home in Monroe Township. Katz, now 61, knew this much about her half-brother: “Zenia Potczynski was born in the Ural mountains in Russia, maybe 1941, or 1942, or 1943? After war ended my mother came back with Zenia, back to Lodz, Poland. He was sent to Israel on a ship with other children. My mother gave him up out of fear for his safety….”

Through the combined tracing efforts of the Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center, the Magen David Adom and the International Tracing Service, Hanna Katz learned last May that her half-brother was alive and living in Israel with the name Zelig Hirsh.

Red Cross volunteer Netty Lowenstein remembers making the phone call with the good news. “Hanna was so excited,” said Netty. “It was wonderful to tell her the trace was a success and her brother had been located alive and well. But being able to also tell Hanna that this man was anxious to be contacted by her, well…now that was gratifying!”

Hanna Katz and her half-brother Zelig Hirsh.

Hanna recalled, “Zelig told me he always felt he had family out there…he just didn’t know how to find them.”

A get-together was arranged with Hanna flying to Israel last October. At the airport, the brother and sister met for the first time. “Zelig hugged me and it felt as if I had known him all my life,” remembers Hanna. She marveled at the similarities in mannerisms between Zelig and herself. “He had the same horseshoe, receding hair line,” she discovered. “Just like Grandpa did!” Hanna and her husband stayed in Israel with Zelig and his family for three weeks.

This case shows how hard it can be to trace someone through the labyrinthine of records that are out there. For example, the minutes of Zelig’s placement hearings had misidentified him as a girl, “She only speaks Russian. Does not know name of her mother.”

Additionally, the boy’s first and last names had gone through many different iterations during his transfer from the displaced children’s camp to Israel, to a new life in his adoptive family where he became Zelig Hirsch.

Hanna is grateful to those organizations and individuals that followed through with her tracing request. “It takes people who understand the importance of reuniting those associated with the Holocaust,” said Hanna. “This has provided closure for one person in Israel – to learn that he did indeed have a family – and my life is so much richer for it.”

HWVTC: COLD CASE
Thanks to a generous grant from the Claims Conference, the HWVTC is reviewing 5,000 tracing requests that were submitted during 1995-2001. The Center was initially unable to find any documentation on the persons sought but since that time advancements in technology have enabled us to quickly connect and communicate with the world wide tracing network including the more than 100 Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies around the globe and partner organizations such as the International Tracing Service.

RACING AGAINST TIME
Brian Kiehl is a volunteer with the Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center who raised $1,100 for the Red Cross by asking his friends and family to sponsor him in the Marine Corps Marathon. Kiehl donated the money to the Tracing Center to further its mission of finding the fates of those who went missing during the Holocaust. This was Kiehl’s first ever marathon and he says raising money for this worthwhile cause gave him the extra motivation he needed to train for the race.

Brian Kiehl proudly crosses the finish line.

HVTC HIGHLIGHTED AT RED CROSS CONVENTION
Close to 1,000 Red Crossers from throughout the country received an education about Holocaust tracing at the recent national convention held in Baltimore, Maryland. The Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center booth was staffed by volunteers and attracted chapter representatives who are key to outreach efforts in locales with large survivor populations, such as Greater New York and San Francisco.

Lisa Ghalli, a Red Cross caseworker from New York, made a moving presentation to convention delegates. Her story about a client who received important information regarding her family’s fate during the Holocaust included a video taped interview. Many convention delegates in the audience were moved to tears by the emotional reality of the organization’s tracing work.

The Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center is a national clearinghouse for persons seeking the fates of loved ones missing since the Holocaust and its aftermath. We assist U.S. residents searching for proof of internment, forced/slave labor, or evacuation from former Soviet territories. This documentation may be required for reparations.

For more information about Red Cross services, contact you local Red Cross chapter.